Rockford students celebrate upgraded building

ROCKFORD - Johnson Elementary School students entered their new cafeteria in small groups Wednesday with dropped jaws and big eyes and plenty of childhood enthusiasm.

It was their first time seeing the end result of the construction zone that dominated the front of their school building until last week.

The improvements at Johnson - a security vestibule, a resource room and new lunchroom and kitchen - are the very first completed as part of a $311 million, 10-year plan to upgrade Rockford School District buildings.

At Johnson, it means no longer having to have physical education classes on one half of the gym and lunch on the other. It means oven-to-plate meals as opposed to having food shipped in from a production site. It means having more space to work with students one-on-one or in small groups.

"This is one piece of our overall goal to improve the learning environment for our students," said Rockford Superintendent Ehren Jarrett, who stopped by Johnson briefly on Wednesday to bask in the excitement.

"The neat thing about today is being able to see the kids enjoy what we've done."

Lunch is a high-energy time at any elementary school, but Wednesday's new cafeteria opening took it up a notch. Some students sat quietly and wide-eyed, taking it all in. Some pointed to new things. New tables, new colors on the walls, new floors, new windows and discussed what they liked best.

Tables were a hit with third-grader Caeylin McIlwain. Brielle Neiber, 8, put her stamp of approval on the blue and yellow color scheme. Third-grader Aidan Linnabary looked forward to more space for gym class, and Jarreht Vaersendaal, 9, gave the project props for spaciousness.

"It's fun to see them so super excited," said Johnson Principal Amber Miller. "It was built just for them, and they know it."

Corina Curry: 815-987-1371; ccurry@rrstar.com; @corinacurry

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